A Date By Any Other Name
by forensicsfan
Summary: When does the double date end and the real one begin? Sweets might think he's "observing" but he isn't the only one coming to conclusions.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them. However, I am so glad they're finally back!!

**Author's Note:** I still have 55 minutes until the episode this was based on airs, so I really have no idea how the whole double date thing goes, but a girl can dream. This is dedicated to anyone who has ever read or reviewed one of my stories, but especially for ForAReason for posting such lovely photos and play by play for all of us not lucky enough to be able to go to the Paley Center.

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It wasn't that Booth found the idea of a date with Bones repulsive; hell he'd entertained that idea a myriad of times even before she'd kissed him underneath the mistletoe at Christmastime. No, it wasn't the idea that he was going on a date with Bones that had him out of sorts it was the fact that they were being forced to go on a double date with than none other than 'Dr.' Lance Sweets. Clearly the experience was going to be akin to chaperoning a junior high dance, not the suave sophisticated way he'd pictured he'd eventually get around to sweeping Bones off of her anthropologically squinty feet. He chuckled at the image in his mind of his partner launching into some explanation about how you couldn't really sweep someone off of their feet anyway and that the whole idea of it was just part of his alpha male tendencies.

For her part, Bones seemed to be much more relaxed at the prospect of an evening with Sweets and his little girlfriend; was the guy even old enough to shave? She smiled as she sat in the passenger seat of his bureau-issued SUV and that fact made Booth smile too. Ok, he was going to enjoy this; Sweets aside, he was on a date with Bones and he was going to enjoy every last minute of it in case it never happened again. He glanced over at her again, "What is this place that we're meeting Sweets at?"

"A pottery studio," Brennan smirked at Booth; this really wasn't how she'd pictured she might end up on a date with him. That damn line of his had pretty much erected a barrier to even thinking about crossing it, but with Dr. Sweets insisting on it as part of their partners therapy, she wasn't going to really object to it; at least not too much. This might not be the kind of date with Booth that she'd deny under oath and Angela's scrutiny that she'd dreamed about, but it was still technically a date _with Booth_ and she planned on enjoying herself. Besides, if it went well, Dr. Sweets had assured them that they could continue working together.

"What are we going to do at a pottery studio?" Booth looked a bit perplexed. Art wasn't really his thing; outside of finger painting with Parker or 'helping' him play with Play-Dough that is.

"I would assume that it has something to do with either painting or sculpting pottery," Brennan immediately considered that she had never really seen Booth work with his hands even though she knew he liked to work on cars. Her mind immediately jumped to a few other things she'd never seen his hands do despite frequent fantasies, she felt a smug smile steal over her face and she hoped that her thoughts weren't screaming loud enough for Booth to hear; no matter how illogical the idea that her thoughts could actually scream was.

"Oh," Booth lapsed into silence; pottery with Bones. Why in the hell had he agreed to this double date with Sweets? Oh, yeah, something to do with him having some leverage over their partnership if they didn't comply. Sneaky little twerp.

Really it wasn't that bad. Booth seemed thrilled with the fact that Sweets' gal pal was a bit of a smart ass. Seeing the psycho boy wonder squirm was absolutely delightful. The fact that he'd had to wear a smock that was most definitely not masculine was one thing, but the doo-rag was completely another. He was going to protest wearing either one until Bones had made some comment about how cute he'd look in it. Her sarcasm aside, he was a goner.

Even the fact that Sweets was there could do nothing to dampen Booth's good mood, "Whatcha making there, Bones?" He wasn't completely sure, but it looked like she just might be making a rather odd reproduction of his face. A guy could hope anyway.

"It's a replica of a Peruvian death mask. The Oronica tribe used them during the mummification process," Brennan looked rather pleased with her progress until she looked up and realized that the facial structure bore a striking resemblance to Booth. She wrinkled her nose as she considered that there was no logical reason that the mask should look like Booth other than perhaps she'd been completely preoccupied with him since he'd picked her up at her apartment.

"See my horse," Booth held up what he'd been painstakingly creating. For some reason he was sure that Bones would be pleased with his choice of subject, or at the very least would make some comment about how the stallion was the alpha male of its herd and that it was typical that he would pick something he and his own alpha male tendencies could relate to.

Brennan raised an eyebrow as she regarded the horse; a smirk pulled at the corners of her mouth as she considered the last time she and Booth had discussed equine habits; something that had made him extremely uncomfortable because of how that conversation had come about. She couldn't resist reminding him just to see what sort of reaction she'd get out of him, especially with Sweets there, "Giddy up."

Booth felt his cheeks flushing and he only hoped that Sweets wasn't paying attention because he most certainly did not want to have to give the kid some explanation about pony play – he had probably only just recently heard about the birds and the bees, no need to completely corrupt his young impressionable mind.

"That's a nice representation, Agent Booth; you have quite the flair for art," Sweets had been observing the pair and mentally congratulated himself for insisting on seeing them in a social setting; this double date was revealing far more than a single session in his office about the connection that this pair had.

"Thank you. I have a five year old," Booth wasn't the artsy type; if he had developed an artistic flair as Sweets had put it, it was clearly because of the time he had spent doing things with Parker. There was nothing inherently artsy about Seeley Booth, FBI Special Agent and former Army Ranger Sniper – he was a manly man thank you very much and he loved women. He loved Bones.

Brennan noticed that Booth seemed to turn a bit pale, "Are you feeling ok, Booth?" She wondered if they should have stopped to get something to eat on the way to meet Dr. Sweets and his girlfriend or if maybe the Thai food he'd brought by the Jeffersonian at noon had upset his stomach.

"I'm fine, probably just inhaled some clay fumes," Booth didn't want to make eye contact with anyone right then. What did he mean that he loved Bones? How in the world could he have gone from having inappropriate thoughts about her to falling in love with her? Damn mistletoe. That must have been the catalyst. If he had never known how nice her lips felt against his, he would never have fallen for her. He would still be happily in denial about the whole thing. One could hope anyway and here he was on a date with her; albeit a double date.

"Clay doesn't have fumes; an odor perhaps, but not fumes," Brennan suddenly realized that her mention of the phrase 'giddy up' had struck a chord with him and within the context of this double date it occurred to her that perhaps Booth was having similar thoughts about her that she'd been having about him now for quite a while.

"Then it's the odor," Booth really wanted to change the subject, but it was very difficult to move the conversation away from clay when he was elbow deep in it and so was everyone else. He was fine with the odor, he just wasn't fine with the images swirling through his head at breakneck speed of him and Bones engaging in their very own version of pony play; something that he didn't want Sweets to catch wind of; ever.

"You really don't look very good, Agent Booth," Sweets looked at the Agent with concern; the flu was going around and he most certainly didn't want to catch it. Especially since his half of this date seemed to be going especially well and he was fairly confident that he was going to have a very good evening after his professional duties of observation were over.

"Maybe we should go; we're both mostly done anyway and they have to glaze and fire it before we can take them home," Brennan was sure that Booth was feeling just fine, but at the moment she was more than willing to play along with him to test out her own hypothesis about why Seeley Booth was suddenly so uncomfortable.

"Yeah, maybe we should," Damn, this date had definitely taken a wrong turn somewhere; oh, yeah right about the part where his mind loudly announced to him that he was in love with Bones.

"Give me your keys," Brennan reasoned that if he was going to act sick that she was going to take advantage of the situation and at the moment with Dr. Sweets sitting right there, he wouldn't have any room to argue.

Booth narrowed his gaze at her; he could tell that she could tell that he was feeling just fine, well other than that damn comment that brought pony play up in conversation. But he handed over the keys without so much as an whine so that Sweets would have no clue.

They made it to the SUV and Brennan had a rather obvious smirk on her face as she glanced over at her partner, "You're looking much better; maybe all you need is a little takeout." The implication was there; she didn't want the evening to end quite yet and she was effectively inviting him up.

Booth felt the corners of his mouth pull upwards into a smile as he glanced at her from the passenger seat, "It has been a while since I've eaten." Food was all well and good, but at that moment what he was hungry for was nothing but Bones.

"Hmm, we'll have to do something about that, now won't we?" She offered an impish grin and headed towards her apartment. A comfortable silence descended on the vehicle and it wasn't until they were walking up to her door that she broke the silence, "So what are you hungry for, Indian?"

"Bones." His tone was clearly an answer, not a question that would be begging her attention.

"What?" Brennan turned around as she opened the door to her apartment and found that Booth's lips cut her off as her arms drifted to his shoulders all of their own accord. This was what she'd been thinking about since well _before_ Christmas and since then, well, she couldn't _stop_ thinking about what it was like to kiss Booth.

It was a long few minutes later when Booth finally pulled away feeling very intoxicated with his new favorite flavor, "You. Bones." He smiled at her hopefully as if finally offering an explanation for why he'd suggested kissing instead of food.

Brennan could have sworn her stomach flipped if it hadn't been physically impossible, "Indian and more of that while we wait." She offered him a smile in return and while she was sure that Booth might claim he could live off of kisses, she was sure it was physically impossible. Especially since his kiss had left her wanting for far more.

"Ok, Indian and then you," Booth's grin could have caught the sun on fire; yes, this date – even if it had started out as a double date – was turning out far better than he could have possibly expected.

_**The End**_


End file.
